Yeah, Joly is a wild card. But, part of the reason I think it should be in First Growth is just because of the reputation of the terroir itself, even if the current winemaking is a little hit or miss.
Also, part of me agrees that Le Mont maybe should be moved down to, and Baudry moved up to, “First” as I see the list expanding.
IMO Boulay’s Sancerres are every bit the equal of the Cotats’. They have the added benefit of being more consistent too.
It seems that Guiberteau Clos des Carmes (monopole) should be on this list too. But where — second or first growth?
The inconsistency of Joly’s bottlings merits them 2nd at best. In this context being a “wildcard” is a negative.
Consequently, anything higher is wishcasting… A first growth should be consistently good to great.
Most of the Huets from these years will still be alive in 30 years. Many of the wines above probably won’t be. Tasting Huets from the 1990s onwards just barely gives you a frame of reference.
I don’t judge a wine on how long they drink well, but how high they peak. I also prefer Huet’s dry wines at 8-12 years… i don’t think they become better after that. Personal preference ofcause. Oldest I’ve tasted is a 23 year old dry Bourg. If they become magically better after that then i stand corrected.
Agree. Even if the wines might not always be consistent and the winemaking would not be up everyone’s alley, I’d still put Clos de la Coulée de Serrant in 1st Growth category. I personally like Clos de la Bergerie more in most vintages, but even then I wouldn’t rank it higher than the grand vin. However, I’d include Clos de la Bergerie as well, perhaps as a 3rd Growth?
Did I miss Leroy and Bernaudeau?
And Claude Courtois.
I’ve had 30-40 year old Huet sec that was otherworldly. Among my very favorite dry chenins.
Fair enough. But overall i personally like wines on the “younger” side across the spectrum. But taste is taste and cannot really be discussed.
But if they really are upper tier i wonder why they are still so cheap and available. If they were so unique I would expect them to end up like Rougeard or Vatan or whomever, even with a larger production (and it is not that big). Just bought a few 2019 Bourg and Le Mont for the cellar. If they were in the upper echelon i would not expect to still be able to buy such a highly regard vintage at 30 euro each.
Highly regard names. Never tasted any though so didn’t want to mention them. Have you tasted any Bernaudeau’s? They sure are hyped and expensive now 
Forgot one of the best Chenin Blancs I’ve tasted, which i had a year ago:
Guiberteau, Clos Des Carmes, 2009. I would put that rather high on the list.
I find that odd too. I just picked up some 2019 Le Mont and Le Haut Lieu at $39/$32 which is still “cheap” in the world of fine wines. Do they producer in larger quantities than other producers? Or are they still under the premox stink?
Yes, a few. I have a source at a decent price here. Most recently Nourrissons 19 (IIRC).
Did you just equate price with quality?
Yes and no. I know price is not equal to quality. My wine collection is a testament to that. But with Huet being such a historic estate I would expect them to go the way of many other estates if they were in a tier for themself. I don’t think Huets stands above almost any other Loire estate and i do think the current prices we see from different producers in Loire to some degree shows that.
And then i am also being a bit provocative because i think people have tendency to disregard styles or producers they have little to no experience with.
It’s the Loire and chenin, so generally not “sought after” in many international markets. Vatan, Dageneau and Cotat are Sauvignon Blanc, which has more of an international draw for trophy hunters.
Plus there are 4,000 bottles of Vatan Clos la Neore produced per year - excluing the Petillant, Huet bottles ~100,000 bottles per year. I couldn’t find with a quick search how many bottles the Cotats produce, but between Pascal and Francois they farm 6 hectares (vs. Vatan’s 1, and Huet’s 35).
If Huet produced just 4,000 bottles of Mont Damnes and Clos du Bourg, I’m sure the price would be closer to $100… and many of us would still shell out for it.
Atleast in Europe then the Chenin market prices has changed a lot recently for producers like Bernaudeau, Leroy, Collier, Boudignon, Guiberteau among others, fetching rather high auction prices (for Chenin). So the market is there to some extent.
I’ve got 300 bottles of Huet with my oldest going back to the 1920s… You stand corrected. 
More seriously, if you want to “rank” or classify wines into “growth” type categories, then you have to consider age. In fact, arguably that’s more important than how the wines show when they’re young (that they’ve demonstrated ability to age decades and deliver).
Finally, Sec is arguably not the high point of what and where Chenin delivers its best wines.
This will be an endless discussion, so i let you have it 